Abstract Macroscopical aspects of second-intention heal- ing of full-thickness excisional wounds were studied in five normal male mixed-breed dogs. Test wounds were treated topically with allicin 0.5% in methyl cellulose gel, and control wounds were treated with methyl cellulose gel only. Wound treatment started 24 h after wounding. The wounds were evaluated over a 4-week period. At days 0, 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 28, digital photographs were taken of all wounds. Rulers were held vertically and horizontally close to the wound as a reference. The area of epithelialisation and granulation tissue were measured for each wound using Scion Image software. Percentage wound contraction, epithelialisation and healing were calculated for each wound. Initially, all wound areas increased in size. After the initial enlargement, wound areas decreased rapidly in size between days 7 and 17 in both the test and control groups. Epithelialisation was first noticed at day 3 in control and day 5 in the test wounds. No significant differences were observed in the percentage of wound contraction, epithelialisation and healing between the test and control wounds (P>0.05).

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